Lovefool
by theunscripted
Summary: Crow agrees to help Carly get over Jack, but instead finds himself competing with Jack for the reporter's affections.
1. Investment

**A/N: I have yet to see an epic, long CarlyxCrow fic—in fact, I've never really seen one with them as the main pairing. So I decided to write one. Not that I don't like JackxCarly, because I ultimately do, but I really like CarlyxCrow too. So I'm going to give it a shot. Note, this is not the main fic I'm working on, so I really don't know when I'll update. I'll see if anyone is interested in me updating it.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter One: Investment  
**

Carly Carmine loved Jack Atlas. More than anything in the entire world. He looked at her and all time stopped and nothing else mattered. She loved being involved in his antics, in his crazy signer life. Despite all of the insanity, she would follow him to the ends of the earth if it meant that he would notice her once more.

But Jack Atlas avoided her. At least, he did since the whole Dark Signer fiasco, she found herself less and less involved with him. Her days went by so slowly when he wasn't around and she felt her brain cells killing themselves off due to the effects of the poison called love.

Carly believed that love was one of the worst diseases anyone could catch. It turned the affected into a total sap and made them do all sorts of crazy things and Carly was no exception. It was the most amazing high and the worst low in the universe, and oh, did she have it bad.

Crow Hogan's views were slightly different. He had swore to himself that he would never fall in love. If only because, like Carly, he believed it was a horrible virus that was the downfall of all smart men. Women were distracting, manipulative creatures that were typically materialistic and demanded attention. Not a very practical investment when he was spending all his time trying to keep he, Yusei and Jack afloat at Zora's with his delivery service and in the mean time improving his Duel Runner or his dueling skills.

Not only that, but he had seen how girls could get—how impractical and demanding they could be. Akiza had Yusei wrapped around her little finger, and Crow swore to himself that he would never get like that. A swear he was positive he could keep.

The two had found themselves thrown together that sunny afternoon inside Yusei's garage, Carly just waiting for Jack, and Crow doing absolutely nothing but sitting beside her. It had been his day off and he had planned to spend the entire day improving his Duel Runner.

Unfortunately, a wrench was thrown in his plans when he saw none other than Carly there, just waiting. Carly had only been at Zora's for the better half of the afternoon waiting for Jack to come by for God-Knows-What, and Crow had decided to keep her company. If only because he could hear Martha's voice in his head scolding him for even thinking about leaving her alone.

So, to say the least, Crow's afternoon had been boring. Sitting there with Carly and wondering why she even bothered.

"Sometimes, I wonder why I like him so much."

"Me too." Carly slowly looked to her red headed companion with a small frown and a raised eyebrow. "I mean, you _are_ always the third wheel girl anyway."

Crow glanced over with a smile to Carly, knowing that it was probably a rather hostile blow to Carly's self esteem, but it was the truth. Crow was blunt if nothing else, and pulling punches was never his style. That, and any opportunity to make Jack look like a cold heartless bastard was one that he took the moment that it presented itself.

Carly rolled her eyes and huffed, standing up. "You know, would it kill you to be nice? Just a tiny bit? Maybe say, 'gee Carly, Jack has a lot of great qualities that you should wait around for'." She gave him a glare, "Because that's what _Yusei _would do."

"Yeah, well, _Yusei_ pours and entire box of powdered sugar on any situation that has bad aspects. I, on the other hand, speak the truth. Jack doesn't like you like that—at least not anymore. Get over it and do something else." Crow definitely didn't understand why girls tripped all over themselves for guys that treated them horribly. "I mean, he's kind of a self-centered jerk, why don't you just...you know, stop taking an interest in him?"

Carly was quite shocked into silence by the red head's advice. Crow and Jack were friends and Crow was telling her to just forget about him. Ah, if love was that simple. She crossed her arms, glaring at him as he stood up. "It's not that simple, Crow."

He wandered into the garage, deciding he was going to work on his bike. Sitting there having coffee was getting so boring that it was practically mind-numbing.

When he didn't respond, she decided to press further. "Fine, then. What do you propose I do? It's not that easy to get over someone. So _you_ tell me how exactly I should do it."

Crow sat down on the concrete, dragging a box of tools so that they were in his reach and began to take apart the pieces of his Duel Runner. He was still keeping Carly company—even though she

She walked down the stairs and over to Crow's bike, leaning over it. "Since you seem to be the resident love expert."

Crow paused what he was doing and leaned back, gazing up at Carly through her glasses with a puzzled expression. He sat there in silence for a moment before an idea hit him. He considered it to be a challenge—an _investment_, a project. And Crow had a very hard time resisting the temptation of a project. "Fine. I'll help you get over Jack."

Besides, once Jack realized what Crow was doing, it would piss the blonde off so much and provide so many laughs. Crow was not above anything when it came to getting on Jack's nerves. This was most certainly a shining opportunity.

This seemed to surprise Carly so much that she stood back up, looking a bit taken aback. "Help me...get over Jack?"

"Yeah. Since you've named me the resident _love _expert. I should live up to said title." He grinned, unable to turn down a challenge. "Unless you're happy spending the rest of your life with unrequited love for a giant asshat. In which case, more power to ya."

Carly considered it for a moment, weighing her options. She could spend forever pining for Jack or she could get over him and get on with her life and maybe stop being so childish. If she wasn't spending her days thinking about and or waiting for Jack, she could do so much more with her life.

And she might even have more money if she was over Jack.

"Alright." She nodded in agreement and stuck out her hand for Crow. "Help me get over Jack Atlas."

"Awesome." Crow couldn't help but smile and took her hand, giving it a firm shake. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.


	2. Cleansing Rituals

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad I'm not the only one who wants to read CrowxCarly. Hope you enjoy! I do not own Yugioh 5D's.  
**

**Chapter Two: Cleansing Rituals  
**

Carly was awoken early the next morning—and it was nothing short of a rude awakening.

"GET UP!" The covers were ripped from her bed, "Quit being lazy! Don't you understand that the longer you stay in bed, the more time you're wasting?" She felt two hands fall onto the end of her bed, holding the hem of the comforter to the mattress.

Carly cracked an eye open, "How the hell did you get into my apartment?"

Crow shot her a devious grin, brandishing her spare key. She squinted and cocked her head slightly, "You know that the most common place to hide a spare key is under the welcome mat?" He scoffed, hanging his head, "No wonder Jack floats in and out of this place. He can easily find your spare."

Carly's brow furrowed and she sat up. She blinked slowly at the world around her, trying to wake up, and only finding herself annoyed at the fact that one of her love interest's best friends had broken into her house and woken her up by ripping the covers off of her.

She yawned, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her ankles. "It's..." She glance at her clock before whining, "Crow, it isn't even 8! How are you awake?"

Crow looked up with a raised eyebrow, "I don't stay up all night fantasizing about tall blonde men with stupid accents."

Carly scowled at him, leaning over and snatching her covers back. "I did not stay up all night fantasizing about tall blonde men with stupid accents." She paused, "His accent isn't stupid either."

"Look. You're gonna get up, get dressed, and don't wear that stupid outfit you always wear. Wear something new. We're gonna get your old clothes and burn them in a giant bonfire on the beach."

Carly blinked slowly again before muttering, "What? Why are we burning them? I like that outfit."

Crow pushed off of the bed and walked over to her closet, opening it up and looking through it, "Because first thing's first. We get rid of Jack Atlas in your apartment. Starting with every outfit you've ever worn that reminds you of him at all." And then, he proceeded to throw out random clothes onto her floor.

"Hey, hey, hey! Wait!" Carly quickly jumped up from her position on the bed and she raced over beside him. "I don't have money to buy a whole new wardrobe! Stop!" She waved her hands in front of him, but he seemed to ignore her. "Stop! Stooooop!" She clutched his wrists and grimaced. "Don't just throw them on the floor. Let me go through them and think! And maybe get some breakfast."

Crow gazed at her for a moment, ceasing his actions, before commenting, "Breakfast is for losers." And then he promptly went back to tossing clothes out of Carly's closet.

Carly groaned in frustration, letting go of the red head's wrists and sighing loudly, "Okay, okay. Fine. I'll throw out the stuff I've worn around Jack." She shook her head and then began to comb through her closet, tossing out the stuff that reminded her of Jack and putting everything else to the side.

There was a long moment of silence before she muttered, "I haven't worn most of this since...college."

Crow was silent for a moment and then held up a mini skirt with a raised eyebrow. "I can...tell."

"GIMMIE THAT," Carly quickly snatched it out of his hands with a blush on her cheeks. "I used to party! A little! Kind of." She paused, not liking Crow's calculating and knowing grin. "Okay, I've never worn it! I was gang pressed into getting it."

The silence paired with Crow's smile still made her uncomfortable. "Oh my god! My mother made me buy it! Stop! Stop giving me that look!"

Crow burst out into peels of laughter at her spastic explanation. "You're so awkward! I don't care if you've got slutty clothes in your closet! You've never worn them around Jack, though, so I'm guessing that's what you'll dress in now." He then laughed all over again.

Carly glared at him before rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "First off, it's not slutty. Have you see what Akiza wears? This is not slutty compared to that. Telling you."

He snorted loudly in amusement, "Akiza _does_ dress slutty! With her boobs pouring out of her top and her skirt barely covering anything in the front. Though...that probably covers more than her skirt."

She blinked slowly before hanging the skirt back up in his closet. "You know, I didn't think that it was possible to annoy me until 9, but you've proven me completely wrong. You've broken into my apartment-"

"But I used your spare key."

"You've woken me up by pulling away my covers!"

"Did you want me to just stare at you until you woke up? Because even I think that's kind of creepy."

"And you're throwing ALL of my clothes on the floor! And making fun of the fact that I have a mini skirt!" Carly burst out, throwing her arms into the air.

Crow paused, thinking for a moment before looking up to her, "Guilty as charged. But just think. It's not me doing this to you. It's Jack. Jack is the one who's ultimately responsible for all of this. If he wasn't such an ass, you could still be sleeping!"

Carly looked back to her clothes, considering the red head's words carefully. Crow did have a screwed up way of blaming this all on Jack, but she got the point. Blame it on Jack. If she was able to blame it on Jack, then her heart would be able to associate him with bad things—making it much easier to get over him. "Alright, alright. I'm focused."

She sighed, continuing to go through her closet, throwing things aside and keeping clothes that she hadn't worn in forever.

"Good," Crow stopped rummaging and leaned against her closet door. "After your closet, we'll go through everything else and then take it to the beach at Satellite and have a bonfire."

"Joy. I always wanted to burn my possessions. Woo." Carly gave a fake cheer before moving to her dressers.

Crow smirked slightly, "Think of it as starting anew. A fresh start. You better be burning your stuff because I took extra time off to make sure you did it."

Carly raised an eyebrow before looking over her shoulder at him, "Why? Why did you take time off?"

He gave her a cold stare back, "Because you wouldn't do it if I wasn't hanging over your shoulder. That's the problem with you love-sick girls. You say you'll get rid of everything, but you always keep like...half of what you're supposed to get rid of." He sniffed slightly, "Maybe when you're a little bit over him, I'll trust you to do things on your own."

"Well, I guess I'm not getting rid of you anytime soon," Carly snickered to herself, turning back to her dresser.

"Nope! So you better get used to me!"

Carly did have to hand one thing to Crow—he certainly did take her mind off Jack. Maybe this would work.


	3. Bonfire

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! They really help me keep this story going. I do not own Yugioh 5D's. By the way, does anyone know if this ship has a name? I haven't been able to find one...

* * *

**

**Chapter Three: Bonfire**

"I honestly can't believe I'm doing this," Carly half-whined as she stood there, toes in the sand, watching her personal belongings burn. She had to admit that she never ever thought that it would be like this—that she would be burning everything that reminded her of Jack. Surprisingly, it was a lot.

"Well! You told me you wanted me to help you get over him. This is exactly the way to do it. Out of sight, out of mind." Crow fell back onto the sand, staring out at the water over at New Domino City. Getting Carly to get rid of absolutely everything that was Jack related was a bitch. However, now, that it was burning in some giant old rusted container, it seemed like it was a day well spent. "I have to go back to work tomorrow you know. That's an entire day of pay I've wasted on you."

"...I could have done it myself!" Carly protested, walking to stand next to him. "You didn't have to hang over my shoulder like you did."

He looked up to her, "Yeah, but then you wouldn't have thrown anything away. You wouldn't have even come here at all!"

There was a long silence before she sat down beside him, defeated. "I guess you're right..." She mumbled. She was going to go home and her house was going to feel so incredibly empty. She already felt weird—wearing clothes she wasn't sure she had ever worn. Including the mini skirt Crow had found. Because it actually wasn't that bad looking.

Carly bent her knees up slightly, resting her elbows on them and resting her chin in her hands. She let out a long drawn out sigh as she listened to the crackling of the fire and gazed at the city across the water.

"So...how did you fall in love with Jack anyway?" The question was so sudden, Carly was almost taken aback by it.

She was silent for a long time before she finally said, "Well. He stayed at my apartment and...we dueled together and we-"

"Waiwaiwaiwaiwait. You...dueled with Jack?" Crow couldn't help the grin on his face. "You didn't strike me as the dueling type."

"Well, he kind of had his arm in a sling! So...I just...held his cards for him. And we dueled Trudge." To Carly, it wasn't that big of a deal anymore, but to Crow, it seemed as though it meant something.

His brow furrowed slightly and he glanced away from her, wondering why on earth Jack 'Master-of-Faster' Atlas would allow someone else to help him. Especially now since he tended to avoid her and conversation about her.

He wondered if he was even doing the right thing. Sure Jack was cold and all, but what if he had reasons for avoiding Carly? After all, that whole Dark Signer thing was a completely off limits topic. He wasn't sure he knew the entire story to begin with.

"But...yeah. He was just...I dunno. For awhile, it felt like he actually cared. That was before he went off to fight the Dark Signers and said I was only part of the paparazzi, which totally didn't make sense-" She rambled, looking back to her companion, "Because to me it...actually seemed like he...liked me."

Crow stopped trying to decipher Jack's motives and looked up to Carly with a raised eyebrow.

There was a very odd silence between them before Carly finally broke it. "Enough about me-how did _you_ meet Jack? You kind of...cropped up out of nowhere after the whole Dark Singers thing..."

Crow finally looked back at the water. "We grew up together. In the Satellite—with a woman named Martha. Jack, Yusei and I go back to when we were little kids. We were inseparable. At least until everything with Kalin went down and then..." He trailed off before shaking his head. "There's no point in talking about it now. What's done is done. Can't change anything about it."

Carly blinked slowly, gazing at Crow, quite interested in the story. However, she didn't press on. "Okay then. So Jack didn't only change because of me."

"No, he was always a pompous jerk." Crow rolled his eyes and glanced over at Carly and wondered what once made her special to Jack Atlas.

She had those massive glasses that completely took away from any natural beauty she may be hiding underneath, she wore unflattering clothes—although he had to admit that since they had burned at least half of her stuff, the remaining wardrobe was half decent—and she was loud, obnoxious annoying. Well...actually, she hadn't been any of that to him through the entire day. Just around Jack it seemed like she lost her mind.

So was this the real Carly? She wasn't that bad. She had only been mildly annoyed with him despite the fact he broke into her apartment and made her destroy a lot of her personal belongings. She had a lot more patience than he did. Then again, to love Jack, she had to have a lot of patience in the first place.

"He wasn't a pompous jerk to me. Well—after that day at the boardwalk and before that whole ditching me thing," She couldn't help but sigh, "Am I doing the wrong thing? I feel like I'm closing a door that I shouldn't close yet. Jack takes a bit of...understanding and time, and I knew that."

Crow rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but you being a doormat isn't exactly how relationships are supposed to go. Don't have to be a love guru to understand that." Besides, it was kind of sad to see her just waiting there all day for him and then later that evening, he hadn't even asked about it. It made him a bit annoyed.

Had _he_ done that to _any_ girl, he would _never_ hear the end of it. From Zora, from Martha, from Yusei, from people he wouldn't even expect to know. But Jack could easily get away with it.

_ "_You're _not_ doing the wrong thing, Carly. Stop second guessing yourself. If you make a decision, follow through with it." He suddenly lay back in the sand, regretting he had even brought up Jack in the first place. "I never should have asked you in the first place about him. He's a jerk, realize that and move on."

Carly seemed quite annoyed by this statement and gave him a sideways glare, "Since when did you decide to zoom in on your duel runner and save me from Jack anyway? I mean, isn't this like...a horrible crime against the bro code? To steal your best friend's girl?"

"No! And you're a girl, you don't even know what's part of the bro code and what's not part of the bro code! And I'm not stealing you either."

Carly snorted in disapproval. "Whatever. What do I have to do next? Change my hairstyle because it's reminiscent of 'Jack's Carly'? Or get rid of my glasses?"

Crow paused, actually considering the last bit of her statement. "You know, your glasses wouldn't be such a bad idea. I haven't even seen you without them." He sat up against and leaned forward to snatch her glasses off and instantly held them up and away from her.

"HEY! Wait! I need those to see!" Carly dipped towards him, reaching out for them, but instead toppled onto him. She squeaked as Crow couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"You're such a spazz!" He finished his laugh with a snicker and then looked up to see what she had been hiding. His expression softened and he was...to say the least surprised. Carly looked completely different without her glasses.

In his state of shock, she was able to grab her glasses back and quickly moved to sit back in the sand. "It's your fault I have sand in my underwear now. 'Come to the beach with me! Burn stuff! Wear mini skirts you've never worn'!" She began to clean her glasses on her shirt, "Well, you didn't tell me to do that last part, but you kind of dared me, so I had to do it."

Crow slowly sat up, "Why do you hide your eyes?" This genuinely puzzled him. She was definitely pretty enough to be with Jack—hell, her dark hair, light eyes combination was exactly the kind that Crow had always pictured his friend to choose in whatever potential future wife he would have.

"Because I can't see! And..." She quickly put her glasses back on. "I'm not hiding them."

He leaned forward again, but this time pushed the glasses down her nose so he could get a better look at her eyes. Carly was silent as she let Crow just search her eyes for an odd moment of silence before he fell back into the sand.

"Man, Jack's stupider than I thought."

"...what's that supposed to mean?"

Carly never got an answer to this question and the rest of the sunset was spent in silence.


	4. Speculation

**A/N: I wrote this chapter and I felt so bad for writing CarlyxCrow because of it. I really love CarlyxJack but I'm writing this because there are no CarlyxCrow fics. :/ Sometimes, it sucks to try and not do the norm. Do not own anything. Also have a poll up on my profile about the possibility of another fic.  


* * *

**

**Chapter Four: Speculation**

"Crow sure has been spending a lot of time out lately..." Yusei couldn't help but comment with a slightly puzzled look directed at the door. Crow had gone off again—almost directly from work and he didn't even have to say where he was going anymore.

Although, he should have thought ahead. With everyone congregated in his garage, his comment was bound to become the topic of interest.

"Yeah! He used to be here _all _the time when he got off work! Now he just goes off! Not even a hello!" Leo complained loudly. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brows.

"Leo, not everyone's life revolves around your schedule," Luna reminded him softly. "Maybe he just has a lot of stuff to do."

Akiza couldn't help but give an amused 'hm'. "Sure, if by 'stuff' you mean going on unofficial dates with Carly Carmine, then sure. Crow has _plenty_ to do after work."

At the mere mention of her name, Jack set down his tea a bit noisily and gave Akiza an icy stare. "What do you mean '_unofficial dates with Carly_'?"

"Exactly what I've said! All week I've seen them together at least once every day. ...not that I'm spying or anything." Akiza couldn't wipe the coy smile off her face. She knew that this would indeed ruffle Jack's feathers. "He practically ran out of here today, and I'm assuming it's to wherever Carly might be!"

Ugh. _Why_ was she talking about this in front of Jack when she knew Carly was a sensitive subject? Yusei could only guess that Jack had done something to upset Akiza and this was her way of getting back at him. "Well, just because he's going to see her doesn't mean they're dating." Besides, if they were dating, a massive argument would have broken out over it. Blood would have been split.

"But I thought that Carly liked-" Leo began, only to have a hand clapped over his mouth by his sister.

"He means that he never would have guessed that Carly liked Crow! Since...they...normally argue whenever they talk!" Luna giggled nervously. "I bet it's nothing!"

"Luna has a point. Maybe Crow is just helping her with an article or something." Yusei commented slowly. Anything..._anything_ to keep Jack from full on murdering Crow.

"Article, hm. Funny. I didn't know that Carly now enlisted the help of single red heads for her articles while wearing mini skirts." Akiza seemed hell bent on disrupting the peace between Crow and Jack.

Oh...geez.

"_MINI SKIRTS?_" Jack couldn't help but burst out. "Crow had _better_ have a_ damn_ good explanation for this!"

For the sake of the peace of their home, Crow _had_ better have a damn good explanation. Although, Yusei had a feeling that it was not going to be something Jack wanted to hear. Jack must have _really_ pissed off Akiza to get this kind of treatment from her.

"What is there to explain? Carly's single, he's single, it's not like _you_ give her the time of day lately. Why shouldn't they go out? It's not like she's going to wait around for someone who ignores her anyway." Akiza hissed. It was the truth though—even she had noticed. So she had absolutely no problem with rubbing his foolishness in his face. That and he deserved it after he had teased her so badly when Yusei had been kidnapped.

"I don't have to listen to this," Jack finally resolved, standing up quickly. "For all I know, you're just saying all of this to get me riled up."

"Look Jack," Akiza began, leaning against the wall, "Whether you like it or not, you might have to live with the fact that Carly won't wait forever for you."

This might have hit a little _too_ close to home for Jack. Yusei carefully watched his friend's expression, waiting for the explosion that never came. Instead, the blonde swallowed thickly and stormed up the stairs. There was a long pause before the four heard a door slam.

"Oh no..." Luna mumbled, looking up to the stairs.

Akiza huffed and looked away, "Truth hurts! He shouldn't have been so weird around Carly!"

Yusei sighed, setting down his tools and debating with himself. To go up and try and talk to him or to just let him cool down himself. Then again, this all had to do with _Carly_. It was a super sensitive topic and he was honestly worried that Jack would punch the walls.

Zora wouldn't be very happy about that.

He stood up quietly, "I'll go talk to him."

"Just don't just make him think it's okay to treat her like that!" Akiza called out after Yusei as he walked up the stairs. Although her harsh reality was probably not going to be enforced. He always had the nice approach. She turned and looked to Luna and Leo. "Common, let me help you with homework while we wait."

There, on Jack's nightstand, reminding him of her every night before he went to bed was Carly's beat up glasses. With the messed up frame and the hole in the glass, the only remnant of Carly before she was a Dark Signer. The last bit of evidence that existed of the time before everything changed.

Jack had never wanted to avoid Carly—ever. How could he? He loved her. He had told her that he did when she was a Dark Signer, before she died. Not that she recalled that fact. Not that she knew that his reason for defeating the Dark Signers was because of her. She didn't remember anything.

The sinking feeling in his stomach when he realized this never left him and it was this that he had feared would happen. For Carly to never remember and just move on.

He knew that it would eventually happened if he continued what he was doing—standing idly by, hesitant to bring it all up and looking like a jerk on the outside while doing so. But every time that he had the chance—something came up or it was instantly ruined. Ironically, a good portion of the time, it was Crow coming to bitch at him for screwing up in some way.

And now Crow could have possibly ruined it all, and for good.

Jack looked up at the sound of a knock at his door.

He really didn't want to talk about Carly now. But perhaps...just maybe...if he let Yusei in, he would get something useful out of it.

So instead of everyone out and bottling it all, he decided to try a new tactic—and opened the door.


	5. Change of Heart

**A/N: Sorry for the long dry spell. I saw the ending of 5D's. I raged. Shame, Jack, shame. I also have a Tumblr now for fic related stuff. You can find the link on my profile page. This chapter is...filler, really. But I wanted to establish something before I moved on, and this was how it happened. Also, I want to thank all of my reviewers who are so awesome for even reading this. Without you guys, I probably would have lost interest already. I don't own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Change of Heart**

"He called me last night." Carly suddenly announced out of the blue. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled in a sigh, finishing with a small wince. "Like...three times."

Crow looked around before looking up, not pleased at all by this little bit of news at all. "You didn't pick up, did you?"

Carly looked to him, raising an eyebrow at his annoyed expression and wondering why he was so annoyed over this little fact. "Of course not. That would be counter productive." She sat down next to her red headed companion on the garage floor, crossing her legs and smiling warmly at him. "You need to have a little more faith in me."

Crow looked relieved by this news and went back to working on his bike wearing a small smile. "I do have faith in you."

She smiled as she pulled her hair up into a bun, "Good, you should trust the media. Well...at least me since you know I'm a reliable source." She couldn't explain it, but she felt so wonderful, just sitting there with him even though she wasn't doing anything but watch him work on his Duel Runner. "That's because all of my best stories come from you guys. Too bad I can't publish any of them."

Crow chuckled softly, "You'll get there. One day, you'll be the most famous reporter in New Domino City, going to fancy parties and interviewing the rich and famous. You have the drive to do it." Even without Jack, Carly could make it. She cared enough about her dream to make it happen. Carly definitely had the drive to achieve it.

"You mean the nerve?" Her lips twisted into a smirk, "With the sneaking, spying, annoying persistence? I have the tenacity of a conspiracy theorist." She mused on the description of herself with pride.

"The difference being conspiracy theorists are typically fat, ugly old men, not secretly hot girls." As he said this, he snatched off her glasses and put them on the top of his head.

"I'm not secretly hot." Carly snickered, not bothering to take her glasses back. "You're just saying that so I won't punch you in the arm for taking my glasses."

Crow continued to work on the medley of metals in front of him, expression concentrated and focused. "Yes you are," He mumbled, half to himself and half to her, delicately adjusting a small screw within the Duel Runner. "And I'm not afraid of you punching me either."

His voice was so quiet for once; it seemed he was completely sincere after all. Carly sighed contentedly and leaned towards him slightly to speak in a soft tone as well before she heard the door practically slam open.

She and Crow jumped in surprise, looking up to the source of the noise and finding it to be none other than Jack Atlas himself.

Carly's eyes widened, feeling a guilt that could only be akin to a teenage girl being caught in a rather compromising position with her boyfriend. And the look he gave her didn't help one bit.

Crow went back to working on his Duel Runner as if nothing were amiss, hoping that Carly would follow his lead and just ignore Jack.

However, Jack did not want to be ignored.

"Carly-"

Carly hung her head immediately at the sound of her name, but didn't say a word. Yeah, she didn't think this was going to blow over well.

"Whatever this idiot has talked you into-"

"Hey, I didn't talk her into anything!" Crow suddenly exclaimed, moving back to watch Jack as he approached them. "Don't yell at her either." Jack reached forward and snatched Carly's glasses off of Crow's head. "Hey!"

"They're _Carly's_, not yours. This is where your game ends Crow."

"Dunno what you're talking about you paranoid-" Crow began to mutter bitterly before he was cut off.

"It isn't a game, Jack," Carly braved as she stood up, gingerly taking her glasses from him. "Can't Crow and I be friends? Can't I have a life besides the occasional moment you feel the need to spend time with me?"

Crow looked up to Carly, shocked at her action. After all, he hadn't expected her to stand up for him—especially after always taking Jack's side. Jack seemed to have a similar astonished reaction.

Despite her original hesitation at saying anything to Jack, Carly was rather pleased with herself. She placed her glassed back on her face with an annoyed sigh. "I am not going to be in the middle of some stupid bicker." Especially over herself. Because that was just ridiculous—and she didn't want to hear accusations that she and Crow were doing things behind his back.

The thought only made her more flustered. "Well boys, have a nice day! I'm going to...find a story." With a forced smile, she walked around Crow and his bike and up the stairs, out of the garage.

Jack watched her go with narrowed eyes, which seemed to widen at the realization that Carly was wearing rather short shorts. Crow hid his smirk of satisfaction and went back to work on his bike, feeling an odd victorious feeling stir within him.


	6. Competition

**A/N: TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED. First, I am so sorry. I wanted to respond to everyone, but every time I went to respond, I got an error message saying that each review was an "outdated link". So, it's not like I didn't read and appreciate them all, because I did. Second, THANK YOU SO MUCH. If it weren't for you guys, I probably wouldn't be continuing this at all. Without further ado, here is Chapter 6 of Lovefool.**

**Do not own Yugioh 5D's.**

* * *

**Chapter Six: Competition**

"Carly. Carly, wait!"

Carly felt her heart skip a beat at Jack's voice and she stopped if only because she was disappointed that it wasn't who she wanted. Her hesitation was just the amount of time Jack needed to catch up with her, place his hands on her shoulders and spin her around.

Carly held her breath and bit her tongue, glaring harshly at him. "Jack, you can't lecture me on hanging out with Crow. It's a double standard. Besides, aren't you guys best friends or something?" As she asked this, she looked off, knowing that the answer was probably that they were closer to frenemies than friends. Carly was beginning to suspect that she was going to turn out to be another competition between the two.

Jack's eyes narrowed, "Will you quit with your assumptions? I'm not here to lecture you." Because this was _Crow's_ fault. He straightened up, taking his hands off of her shoulders and slyly commenting, "I'm just here to warn you about him."

Carly rolled her eyes, "Oh, I suppose I've taken the place of damsel in distress and need to be saved from every dastardly ginger from being stolen away in the night on motorbikes."

There was a silence before Jack corrected, "D-Wheels."

"Whatever. Look Jack, I don't need you to protect me." Jack's disapproving gaze said otherwise. Carly's nonchalant attitude was not moved like it would have been in the past. Perhaps she really was starting to get over him. "Especially not from your friend since Crow isn't going to devour me." She was pretty sure of that.

"Carly, I get it-" Jack decided to go a different route. If he couldn't coax her with words to stay away from Crow and thus prevent a disastrous and heart wrenching relationship from happening, he would simply take up all of her time and push her away from Crow. "And will you _please_ stop talking about Crow before I go back inside and _not_ ask you on a date."

Well, that shut her up. Big time. Carly stared up at Jack, her lips in a tight line and her eyes wide behind her huge glasses. Did he just...?

* * *

"What the hell does he even want with her now anyway? Don't answer that—it's because she and I are friends now and Jack will do anything to one-up me except get a job." Crow spat bitterly. He paused and then added, "I hope she slapped him."

Crow's companion stared at him blankly as he tried to process what was going on. After all, he had been on his way out before Crow had stopped him to vent about Jack. Yusei knew that it was better that he was forced to listen to rants about how inconsiderate, lazy, and cunning Jack was or how much of a nag and reckless idiot Crow was than to have them trying to kill each other. He just wished they wouldn't make him listen when he was doing something.

"Crow..." Yusei began carefully, "Don't you know you're treading into dangerous territory here? That's... Jack's first real..." He trailed off as he tried to figure out the right word for it, before deciding to go out on a limb, "She's Jack's first love."

Crow snorted. "Love my ass. She isn't _his_ love. If she was, she and I wouldn't even be talking."

Yusei furrowed his eyebrows and gave his friend a stern look. "Crow, what do you mean by that?" He asked slowly, knowing that he would probably face-palm at where this was going.

Crow looked around, predicting a oncoming scolding. He ran his tongue over his teeth nervously, "Eh...you know. I may have...suggested to her to give up..." He looked to Yusei finally, trying to ignore the dumbfounded look he was getting. "On Jack, that is."

There was a long silence before Yusei shook his head, "Crow, why would you get involved in Carly and Jack's business?"

"Because she looked pathetic." The ginger answered simply. "She sat there on the couch while I worked on my D-Wheel all day and I just..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He couldn't even explain it to himself. Carly used to annoy him but he was growing so fond of her...

Perhaps that's why the idea of Jack and Carly made his blood boil. Crow knew that if Jack started taking an interest in Carly again, he and Carly would no longer spend any time together.

This clicked in Yusei's head fairly quickly. Crow had taken a liking to the girl that Jack loved. This would _not_ end well. In fact, it would probably end with them killing each other. He wondered how he was going to dodge that bullet since now it would be hanging over their heads for the next week. How pleasant.

Crow groaned in annoyance. "Ugh...whatever. If she knows what's good for her she'll have nothing more to do with him."

Although, just as he finished the statement, Jack walked back in a smug expression written all over his face. Crow's eyes met the former King's and there was some sort of mini stare down that created so much electricity in the air it nearly crackled.

However, instead of victoriously announcing that he always came out on top, Jack turned away and walked up the stairs and out of sight.

Without a moment's pause, "What do you think he did?" Crow hissed worriedly as his eyes darted to Yusei. "He did something, I can tell."

Yusei looked around and blinked slowly, awkward expression on his face. He wasn't quite sure who he was supposed to help. He felt like a bad guy either way. "Uh...I'm going to go deliver the part that I was supposed to deliver 30 minutes ago..." To that weird guy with the hair that looked suspiciously like a Kuriboh and his roommate with the weird accent... "Just...don't kill him, alright?"

He could tell by the look on his friend's face that small task he had requested would be difficult for Crow to manage. Yusei furrowed his brow for a moment before deciding that Jack could hold his own against his much shorter friend and he left the garage.

The unsettling feeling that he had lost something situated itself in the pit of Crow's stomach. He sank into the couch, trying to figure out exactly what Jack had done and how to fix it. Otherwise, he would eternally be anyone and everyone's third wheel.

Now that he had Carly as a friend, he wasn't so sure he was satisfied with that destiny.


	7. Like I Used To

**A/N: This chapter was needed, despite the fact I despise it. It was lots of fun to write though—even though I dislike it. Without further ado, here is Chapter 7 of Lovefool.**

**I do not own Yugioh 5D's or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Like I Used To**

"I feel like I've have about FIFTY CUPS OF COFFEE!" Carly was definitely happy—and that was an understatement. She had just been asked out on a date by the man that she loved since the day she had met him. A cause for celebration to say the least. So she had spent the last hour jumping on her bed and she _still_ had energy to spare.

"As happy as I am for you, I can't help but feel you're not doing the right thing here..." Akiza muttered softly as she looked through Carly's closet, thinking about how funny it was that Carly's clothes consisted of significantly shorter bottoms and far lower cut tops than she had before, no doubt that was Crow's doing. "I mean, Crow's going to trash Wheel of Fortune when he hears."

Akiza had to admit, that might be funny to watch.

"What do you mean?" Carly jumped off of her bed and walked to the empty space beside her friend. Akiza gave her a disapproving look before it clicked in the journalist's head. "Oh. OH! Common, Akiza! Crow and I are _not_ like... _that_." Akiza continued to stare at Carly until the she shrunk under it.

Akiza sighed, "Jack probably thinks of this as a bargain! Once he sleeps with you and gets that against Crow, he'll go back to ignoring you. At least with Crow, you know that he'll treat you right and won't ignore you for stupid reasons."

Carly's brow knit and for the first time that day. The excitement within her vanished and the guilt began to build in the pit of her stomach. She exhaled sharply and looked away, "But it isn't like Crow likes me like _that_. In fact, I'm pretty sure he hates me. He just is trying to help me get over Jack because he doesn't want me to hang around the garage any more waiting for Jack."

Akiza didn't look the least bit convinced and raised an eyebrow, "So is that why he leaves his stuff here at your house?"

Carly leaned to look past Akiza to the Crow's jacket which was resting neatly on her dresser before looking back to her friend, "I was cold that night."

"Night? I thought he hated you. If he hated you, why would he be wasting his _nights_ with you?"

"Because he's nice. Deep down he is. And I was whining." The more she thought about it, the less her theory was holding up. As she tried to come to terms with the fact that she might have romantic potential with someone other than Jack, her excitement over a date with Jack no longer seemed to be infinite.

Akiza grinned, feeling like she needed to find Yusei and tell him all about this growing love triangle despite the complicated implications of it. "You DO like him!"

The journalist blushed, "NO, NO! I don't _like-like_ him! Not like that! I think of him as a _friend_! Not a love interest!"

Akiza did a small little dance and sang, "You love himmm, you love Croooww, and you're going to have red headed children with him and be future Mrs. Carly Hogan!" This was far more exciting than Carly being in love with Jack. It also helped that Akiza thought of Crow as a brother despite the fact that she was pretty sure that at first he disliked her too. "Wait till I tell him! He's going to be so happy!"

"You wouldn't dare." Carly stared wide-eyed at her friend. For a moment, the two were locked in a staring contest before Akiza made a dash for the living room to obtain Carly's phone. "NO!" Carly chased after her, cheeks red.

Unfortunately, Akiza reached the phone and grabbed it instantly, just as Carly tackled her to ground. It made no difference to the Black Rose duelist as she searched through Carly's contacts to find Crow's number, a devious grin plastered to her face. "What should I put? 'Dearest Crow, I love you more than I could ever love any pompous, blonde, stuck up former-kings!'"

"NO!" Carly tried to reach for her phone as Akiza swiftly moved it out of her reach. "Akiza! Don't! I swear, if you do-!"

"Just imagine the blush on his face when he gets this!"

"I can't because he won't get this! Akiza, _give it back!_" Although Carly had a feeling that wouldn't be the case at all. She felt as if she had awakened some sort of devious matchmaker within Akiza, and she was going to have quite a time slaying this beast.

"No! Besides, I'm almost done writing it anyway. Your fate is pretty much sealed." It never occurred to Carly to get off of her friend to snatch the phone away. Instead, she continued to futilely grab something that was out of her reach. "Aaaaannnndddd...SENT."

Carly was frozen for a moment as what Akiza had done sunk in. She sat back, mouth agape as this can of worms was opened. But...she had a date with Jack. Akiza finally handed the phone back to it's owner with a satisfied smirk. "I believe he's glancing at it now as he works. Better hope he isn't on a delivery or he might just crash."

Carly blinked slowly, completely unamused with Akiza's antics. "Do you know what you've just started?"

"I've helped you start a _beautiful_ romance." She sat up as well, still smiling. "When your date with Jack is replaced with one with Crow, you'll be thanking me."

"What am I supposed to tell Jack? Do you know how jealous he is of Crow? Even if I tell him what _you_ did, he'll never look at _me_ the same way and he'll forever _hate_ Crow!" Carly protested.

Suddenly, the text ringer went off on Carly's phone and she slowly looked down to it, swallowing thickly.

Akiza's eyes lit up, "Well! Read it to me!"

Carly exhaled sharply and opened the text, scanning it once before blinking in confusion and then laughing loudly, "HA! AHA! YES!"

"He loves you too? SEE! I told you!"

Carly snickered and smirked, "No, you sent it to _Yusei." _She waved her phone tauntingly at Akiza.

The text on it read, '_Akiza, it's not nice to steal people's phones' _and sure enough, on the from line, it read 'Yusei'. Akiza's smile vanished and her shoulders fell. "How the hell did I manage that?"

"Well, perhaps it's because you were moving my phone so much that you pressed a couple too many buttons," Carly suggested confidently. She crossed her arms, feeling like she had dodged a huge bullet. "Well, there goes _your_ little plan. And I _don't_ like Crow like that."

Akiza scoffed and shook her head. "You do. You're just so stuck on the idea that Jack is your _prince_ when he's treated you horribly for the past few months."

"I did kind of go _Dark Signer_ on him and try to kill him!" Apparently. Carly still couldn't remember _any_ of that. "I've loved him since that day at the amusement park and maybe he's finally forgiven me for what I've done! Maybe he will actually be able to love me like I used to love him."

"Used to." Akiza repeated slowly, if only to watch it sink in Carly's mind. She fell silent afterwards and sighed. "Looks like perhaps Crow's actually made more progress than you thought."


	8. Unrequited

**A/N: When I originally finished this chapter, it went in a completely different direction. I was really happy with it, and when I went to edit it, half of it disappeared. So this is draft two of Chapter 8 of Lovefool, written while listening to the Club Mix of Fight the Bad Feeling by T-Max. If I have any Boys Over Flowers fans reading this, they should know how fitting this song was for this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Don't own Yugioh 5D's. Or T-Max. Or Boys Over Flowers. :l**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Unrequited **

Carly had always dreamed of this. Dressing up and going out with Jack for a romantic evening, but for some reason, all she could think about was earlier that afternoon.

She wondered if she really was getting over Jack and the thought made her sad. He had been her goal, the one she thought was her true love. She had been ready to give up journalism for him in order to be his dueling partner. But now, she was rethinking all of that.

What was it about Jack that she even liked in the first place? Sure he was tall, handsome, and occasionally nice, but she couldn't think of the exact reason she had fallen in love with him in the first place. Everything that he had done should have made her despise him with every bone in her body, yet she just kept coming back for more until Crow came along.

And when Crow found out about this, he was going to be furious with her. Especially since she didn't even bother telling Crow in the first place.

Carly walked along the Boardwalk beside Jack, pretending to be completely engrossed in what he was talking about when she wished that she was with Crow. She never should have agreed to go on this date. Next time, she would listen to the common sense in the back of her head.

"Carly." She was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard Jack call her name. She looked up, surprised that she had been called it all, not realizing how easy it was to tell she had other places she wanted to be and other people she wanted to be with. Jack didn't let his disappointment show. "Do you want to know what happened when you were a Dark Signer?"

She held her breath, weighing her options. "Do I...when I was..." Carly looked away as she thought about it before looking back to Jack and nodding. "What happened? What made you ignore me after it all happened?"

_Ignore_ her. No wonder she seemed to show a lack of interest in him now. She was believing that he was blatantly ignoring her when that hadn't been the case at all. Jack carefully considered his words. There really was no easy way to tell her this. It was a bit of a bombshell to say the least. But it was the last chance he had before he lost her for good.

"I didn't...well, I..." Jack tried to think of how to word it right without sounding like a complete and total jerk. He did technically avoid her when he could, but it wasn't because he didn't care. It was mostly because he was sulking over the fact that he poured his heart out to her and she couldn't even remember. Which really wasn't her fault in the first place. "I didn't ignore you!" He persisted.

Carly raised an eyebrow before looking away. It was better to just go along with whatever he said instead of point out that he was blatantly wrong. "Right."

"Well—I did," Jack corrected himself quickly, "But, it was because of what happened-"

"Right. I tried to kill you. I wore slutty clothes and had black eyes according to Crow-" Carly filled in for him. Jack almost sneered at the mention of Crow's name.

He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around so that he could face her, "I don't _care_ about that, Carly. And I wasn't even talking about that! You told me you loved me! Why don't you remember?" Once he realized what he had said, he let go of her and slightly shoved her to the side before walking on.

Carly stood there dumbfounded for a moment as the news sunk in. She chased after Jack and grabbed his arm, "I told you I _loved_ you? Jack! I wouldn't have remembered that! I don't remember anything!" She threw her arms up in the air as if it helped her frustration. "Yes! I loved you! I've loved you since I met you! But you're a jerk!"

"Well, I love you too!" Jack shot back angrily, which again, caused Carly to freeze in place.

There was a very long and awkward pause between the two before Jack continued, "You didn't remember that either!"

Of all the ways that she thought that she would ever exchange 'I love you's with someone, this was the last on the list of ways she pictured it happening. Then again, this seemed like classic Jack to her. "Jack, that wasn't my fault! Besides, what kind of guy tells a zombie that he loves her and when she comes back to life, he acts like nothing ever happened?"

"You weren't a zombie!" Jack insisted as he spun on his heel to face her, "You were just...possessed."

Carly narrowed her eyes and dropped the subject. She wasn't going to win.

"But none of that matters any more since you're in love with my best friend." She felt that go right through her heart. Jack telling her that she was in love with Crow was a little harder to swallow than Akiza telling her. "And I guess that's my fault." He shoved his hands into his pockets and heaved a heavy sigh.

"I don't love him," Carly almost whispered. She looked away from the blonde, but found that it only made her feel even more guilty. "I don't, and I know I don't, and even if I did, it's even more useless than going after you."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Jack! I'm serious! I'm not getting involved with Crow! All I ever do is argue with him," Carly began to wring her hands and play with the jewellery on her fingers as she gazed up at the rising moon. "And..." She paused for awhile before slowly shaking her head,"And he steals my glasses and puts them on top of his head. And he still has my apartment key...what kind of man steals your apartment key and never returns it?" She trailed off, knowing what Jack's answer was going to be.

Jack glanced over at Carly before looking up at the moon as well, "The kind that wants an excuse to keep seeing you. Carly. Whether I want to admit it or not, you don't love me any more. That doesn't mean that I don't love you any more. Because I do."

Jack always would. No matter what she did, he was convinced that he would always love Carly. He supposed that watching the one he loved be with someone else was all part of repenting for betraying his friends in the Satellite long ago.

"Jack..."

Jack put his hand up to stop her. "Don't start. I only wanted to see if your feelings had really changed. Don't look at me like you pity me. I made a mistake and I have to pay for it now." The least he could do is take this rejection with dignity.

Carly slumped as she walked and frowned. "Okay then. But we're still friends, right?" She hoped that stood at least.

"Of course we are."

Jack was done ignoring her for good now. Even if she were with someone else, he didn't want to remove himself from her life any more.


	9. Cure

**A/N: I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I do. 3 Also, thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. Honestly, I'm not sure I would have kept up with this if I didn't realize that people other than me liked this pairing. Also, this update is a little early for me. But I wrote this chapter sometime shortly after 7 was posted, so it's been sitting around for a long while.  
**

**I do not own Yugioh 5D's.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Cure  
**

The hangover that Carly woke up to the next morning was wicked. Her head was pounding, she was feeling sick to her stomach and she felt as if she hadn't had anything to drink anything in days. "Agh..." She sat up, rubbing her eyes as she groped around her bedside table for her water bottle, only to find that it wasn't there.

Carly sighed loudly to herself and stood up, dragging herself out of bed to go to the kitchen. That was the last time she stayed up bawling like a child and drinking wine until three in the morning. All because she felt bad that she no longer loved the man that she idolized for so long and even he thought she was in love with his best friend.

She normally wasn't one to drink, but after her date with Jack, it was pretty much a given that she was going to come home and have a few glasses on wine to accompany her thoughts. Of course that hadn't given her the answers that she wanted. When she was on her third glass, wrapped in Crow's Blackbird Delivery jacket, it dawned on her. Jack was right—there was a very good chance that she was in love with Crow.

She groaned in annoyance as she rubbed her eye and walked into the kitchen, not acknowledging the man there, sitting at her table, reading the paper. "Why do I do this stuff to myself?" She asked herself as she hit her head against the refrigerator in the rhythm of the pounding in her head. "It's like I _like_ causing drama for myself. Go after Jack—you'll get a good story! Let him stay at your house! Even though he rejected you, you should get the story and get the guy and live happily ever after as Ms. Jack Atlas and what happens?"

"You died."

"That's right. I died, and apparently when I did that, I-" Carly suddenly gasped loudly, dropping the glass in her hand with a crash on the kitchen floor.

Crow glanced at her over the top of the paper. Carly could only stare and wonder to herself why he let himself in her house at-oh. Right. The date. With Jack.

She shifted her weight and looked away from his identifiably orange blob shyly. "...morning."

"Ha. Some morning it's been too." He slammed the paper down on her table, gazing her disapprovingly even though he knew without her glasses, she couldn't see it. "Jack was in a rather good mood this morning."

"He was?" She asked hopefully but when she sensed Crow's glare, she winced,"I had a moment of weakness, okay? When the former love of your life who you think hates you asks you on a date, you're a bit lost for words! But if it makes you feel any better, I came home and drank myself into this hangover out of guilt!" And partially out of fear she was falling in love with him. She turned to the sink, rubbing her temples. It was too early in the morning for this.

"Carly." She could tell by that tone that she wouldn't like to hear Crow's stone cold words of truth. "I _know_ that _smart_ Carly knows that it's suicide to go after Jack. Of all people. Why couldn't you transfer your affection for flashy duelists to Yusei or something?"

Carly shrugged before quipping, "Because Akiza would kill me. That, and Yusei isn't flashy. In fact, I don't think Yusei and I have spoken for more than three seconds at any given time."

Crow scoffed loudly and looked away from her. He remembered clearly why she got on his nerves before he decided to help her in the first place now. He couldn't figure out which he was more annoyed at—the fact that she could be so self destructive or the fact that she couldn't say no to Jack if only out of courtesy for him.

Most likely the latter.

"I'm sorry!" Carly sighed loudly, walking over to the table and walking around the visible glass on the floor. "I know! I'm stupid! I wish I hadn't done it because I don't love him like I used to!"

The redhead gave her a sideways glance and his face seemed to relax.

"And I told him that. Well...actually, he kind of figured it out for himself..." She looked away, trying not to lead on that Jack only figured it out because he assumed that she was in love with Crow. "And he took it pretty well actually."

She pulled out a chair from the table opposite of Crow. Despite the fact that she could only see shapes, she had never felt like she was hiding anything from him when she wasn't wearing her glasses. "And I'm happy that he was in a good mood this morning. I was worried he was going to kill you." She paused for a moment, staring earnestly at him until she realized what she had said, "Me. I meant me. I meant I thought he was going to kill me. Not you. Since you have very little to do with this."

He took so much solace in knowing that her heart no longer fully belonged to Jack. It gave him hope that perhaps the blonde hadn't spoiled her for all men. Crow gave a half-hearted shrug, "He'll get over it. All he cares about really is dueling anyway." Although he had a feeling that maybe he had been wrong about Jack's real feelings about Carly. "He doesn't have a choice. He has to get over it because you hang out with me now."

Carly sighed and hung her head and snickered. "That's kind of trashy to do. Just say, 'oh, you have to get over me asap because I'm hanging out with your best friend. Remember? I don't love you any more'."

Crow snickered, "Well, don't say it like that. But if you _must_ mention me, can't you at least refer to me as the _devilishly handsome _best friend?"

She gave him a small pout. "No, now you're just trying to rub salt in his wound."

His lips twitched upwards into a smirk, but she stayed silent for a moment. She had him there, and there was no getting around that. Instead, he decided to change subjects to the current thing on his mind.

"I like it when you don't wear your glasses."

"Why?" Carly asked softly and cocked her head, deciding to humour him. "Is it because my eyes are an irresistibly beautiful blue?"

"No. Even though they are." Crow was thankful that she always seemed to think he was joking. She simpered softly, but didn't say anything. She was far too hungover to correct him any more. "It's because I can see _you_. Not the you that everyone else sees. I see the bad, the good, and the parts that you want to hide from the rest of the world."

Carly sat up straight as this time his words seemed to be strung to an arrow that went right through her heart. She swallowed thickly and felt her cheeks tingle as she noticed Crow's satisfied smile.

But it was true. Crow was the first person that she had been herself around in a long time. Since Jack at least. They did everything together, even though the whole plan to get over Jack had gone out the window. He even had her apartment key still. Not that Carly minded in the least any more. He had done what he promised, she just wasn't sure it was in the way he thought it would be.

"_Smooth_," She almost hissed, recovering. "It's a mystery that you don't have a girlfriend, Mr. Hogan."

Crow pointed to his head, "It's the hair. You'd be surprised how many girls don't like red heads. You don't know how many dates it's cost me."

He always knew how to cheer her up. How he didn't have a girlfriend really was a mystery. Although Carly was just glad that by sheer dumb luck, his words were directed at her.

"Don't you have work anyway?" Carly asked with a small giggle as she gently kicked him under the table.

"I do. I'm on my lunch break. It's after noon already. Miss Hangover." Crow snorted as he leaned over and poked Carly's forearm.

She jerked away suddenly, before smirking and considering a declaration of war. "Oh, so you wanna play that way? Bring it on!"


	10. Terms and Conditions

**A/N: This chapter was a bit hard to write, so sorry for the delay! I apologize, I've been so wrapped up in reading Troublesome Dragon's Shutter Fancy which is just flat out amazing and you guys should totally check out. But back to CarlyxCrow for me...at least for now...I think I've finally decided how to make this story interesting again.**

**I do not own Yugioh 5D's.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Terms and Conditions**

Jack realized that one of the drawbacks to letting Carly go was having to listen to her happy with someone else.

"Gaaah! I have to get back to my apartment! I'll never get back if I stay, Crow!" He was almost puzzled when he heard that tone come from Carly . He hadn't ever heard that from her.

"So? We're sitting down and we're watching this movie and if you stay here tonight, no one will care!"

Crow _would_ say something like that. Then again, Jack supposed that he should get used to it. Now that he'd silently given them the go-ahead to be together, he'd have to put up with this for probably the rest of his existence.

He looked over the railing from upstairs to catch a glimpse of the two of them just coming in the door from who knew what. He didn't want to know and he wasn't going to ask. All he knew was that they looked giddy, were rather close together, and hadn't noticed his presence.

"Don't mind me." He called out from the upstairs dining area. Both of them looked up at him in slight surprise. "But do go continue your ridiculous giggle-fest out of my earshot." Yeah, this would get worse as it got colder. This was only the middle of Fall after all.

Carly frowned slightly, feeling a pang of guilt, but Crow showed no shred of remorse, "Thanks, Jack. I thought I was going to have to come up with some elaborate scheme to get her into my room. But now that you've done all that for me..." He grabbed Carly's wrist and pulled her up the stairs.

"I'm not trying to guilt trip you, Carly." Jack answered before she could say a word. "Remember what I told you. Try your best not to fight it."

"Quit with all your mystic 'I'm wiser because I've been rejected' mumbo jumbo." Crow looked to Carly, "Whatever he told you, do the opposite."

Carly didn't look all that convinced to say the least. She gave Crow a disapproving look and then turned to Jack, "If you want me to go home, I will."

Jack looked over the top of his cup of coffee. "Don't be like that, Carly. Now oblige him. Otherwise, he'll spend the entire evening bitching at me. I'll never hear the end of it."

As sad as Jack should have been, after much thought he realized that this was what was _best_ for Carly. Jack could have tried forever but he would have never given her the type of future that Crow could give her. Crow could make her laugh, keep her from making stupid decisions and give her a huge family. Most importantly, Crow would make sure that she knew every single day that she was loved. Jack had already failed at that.

He wanted to hate Crow for taking the only person he would ever love, but he couldn't. He loved Carly too much to trap her in an endless cycle of stoicism. He was sort of hoping that they would come to their senses and just get together. At least then the worst part would be over.

Crow grinned and leaned closer to Carly for a moment, "See? Jack's sanctioned it. What else do you need?"

Her response was a small shrug and a smile. "Alright. I'll set it up." She turned and walked down the hall to his room.

Once the door was closed, Jack spoke up again, "I have to make something clear to you before you go any further with her."

Crow looked over his shoulder as his rummaged through the cabinets to find popcorn. "What's that?"

"I still love her."

The red head rolled his eyes at the old piece of information, "I know _that_. She told me."

"No matter how much she loves you, for the rest of my life I will love her. As much as I hate to admit it, you offer her more than I am able to. I expect you to take care of her better than I could ever dream of. You should protect her from her enemies, from me and from _herself_. You should keep her happy. And if..." Jack paused for a moment to consider his words. "If you _ever_hurt her, break her heart, or screw your one chance up..." He looked up to Crow, who seemed to be frozen as he spoke. "I will take her back and make her remember why she loved me in the first place. You won't ever get her back if you make a mistake with her."

Crow knew better than to take this as an empty threat. It was loaded. But Jack was letting go of the most important thing to him. It couldn't be easy for him. He turned to face Jack, bag of unpopped popcorn in his hand. "You don't have to worry. This is one thing I don't plan on screwing up."

Carly suddenly emerged from Crow's room, looking rather giddy. "All set. 'Cept you're not." She took the bag of popcorn from Crow's hand with a sly smile, "I can't leave you to do anything on your own. I hope you weren't threatening to kill each other..." She placed the bag in the microwave and set the popcorn setting before looking back to both of them.

"Don't worry, Carly," Jack gave her a rare smile. "Just setting down _guidelines._"

Carly almost didn't like the sound of that. Guidelines implied that Jack was filling the role of an overprotective father. "Don't worry Jack, I'm not going to do anything I'm not _supposed_ to."

Crow snorted at her interpretation of what 'guidelines' meant. "Making _no_ promises whatsoever on those _guidelines_, Jack." He grinned at Carly who looked absolutely horrified. "I'm pretty persuasive. She can't guarantee you anything either."

"_CROW_!"

Jack tuned them out, just satisfied that Crow understood what it meant to be with Carly. He supposed that it was his official blessing and it was only a matter of time before Crow and Carly were together. Until then, he had to put up with their obnoxious flirting.

But even then—when they were together, it would be worse than he could imagine. The sort of hell that had first come to mind upon hearing that Crow had taken an interest in Carly. He couldn't imagine watching them become closer and closer—he would hate watching her marry his best friend, and it would make his insides churn uncontrollably when they had children. It wasn't even an if, it was a when. Giving up Carly was the hardest thing Jack had ever done.

Every time he regretted it, wanted to take it back and snatch Carly back right out from under Crow's feet, he remembered how unhappy she would be with him. That was the worst part of all of this. He had found his soul mate, and he had let her slip away because of his foolishness.

Well...

At least Carly would be happy now.


End file.
